nagpurpolice Chapter 186 The Conquest of Xunyin
Chapter 186 The Conquest of Xunyin
Chapter 186 The Conquest of Xunyin
The frantic sound of unlocking came from behind. Zhao Cheng knew that the person who had imprisoned him had arrived, but he was not alarmed.
On the contrary, the smile on his lips was almost impossible to hide.
The sound of sharp weapons cutting through the air rang out suddenly, and four throwing knives shot straight toward his hands and feet.
clang.
Zhao Cheng stood still, and with a crisp sound, the four throwing knives were instantly knocked down.
He knew that the ghost he had summoned had descended.
Several muffled groans rang out, and the men who had imprisoned him collapsed to the ground one after another. Only then did he manage to turn around.
"Junior Zhao Cheng greets senior," he said, cupping his hands in greeting. Before him stood a middle-aged swordsman in white.
Just like in his previous life, in this life, he summoned the legendary Sword Demon solely through affinity summoning.
It should be noted that among all the ghost immortals, the Sword Demon is considered one of the stronger ones.
In terms of strength alone, he was capable of contending with Emperor Qianlong, Zhang Kuning.
The middle-aged swordsman stood with his sword drawn, and said indifferently, "My name is Dugu Sheng. Tell me, are you my master?"
"Indeed, I have been imprisoned here for many years, and only now do I finally have the opportunity to enter the summons."
Dugu Sheng raised an eyebrow and looked him up and down. "I was wondering why there was still one Master who hadn't been summoned. I see."
He then sighed and said, "During this time, the other six Masters have progressed to who knows how far, but you have remained stagnant."
"As a result, the large-scale descent of the Oni Immortals has been delayed, allowing the other Masters more time to develop, while you... have undoubtedly become the weakest party in the entire war."
Zhao Cheng nodded silently. He understood all of this. In his previous life, he was the first to leave the stage for the same reason.
However, now that he has been reborn, there is still room for things to turn around.
He quickly searched the corpses, stripping all the valuables off the five bodies. His skillful movements made Dugu Sheng's eyelids twitch.
"Senior, my Zhao family has hidden a treasure in a secret place outside the city. As long as I retrieve it, we can recruit soldiers and horses and officially begin to build our power."
"Do as you say," Dugu Sheng paused, then added, "We still need to gather some information to see how the other Masters are doing."
Zhao Cheng nodded in agreement, and the two walked out of the dungeon one after the other.
Along the way, they also encountered some enemies, all of whom were members of the Lianglong Gang.
After Tianyong City was captured by Huangfu Chong, Cangjian Peak abandoned the city, and most people fled the city, with only a small number still living there.
Tianyong City is divided into two parts, east and west, with the ruins of Huangfu Chong's arrow as the boundary. The eastern part is controlled by the Tuolong Gang, while the western part is occupied by the Black Snake Gang.
As the last surviving member of the Zhao family, Zhao Cheng was targeted by the Tuolong Gang shortly after his release from prison and was later imprisoned in the dungeon.
As a group of henchmen approached, Dugu Sheng stepped forward. Without even raising his hand, blood streamed down the necks of the henchmen on both sides, and they collapsed with a thud.
Just when they thought this was the final hurdle and reached the surface, they saw a thick cloud of blood mist drifting in from the west.
The blood mist blotted out the sky, swallowing up the western part of Tianyong City, covering the ruins that served as the dividing line, and began to erode the eastern area.
Thick, cold, and with a vague sense of nausea, this was their first feeling when they were enveloped in the blood mist.
"What's going on?" Dugu Sheng wondered. "During the time after my death, could there have been a major upheaval in the world, leading to such extreme weather as blood mist?"
Upon hearing his words, Zhao Cheng stared intently at the blood mist, vaguely making out some figures moving about within it.
That is.
He suddenly opened his eyes, forgetting to hide his true feelings, and cried out, "This is the Blood Sea Demon Army! Quickly!"
After saying that, he took off running in the direction away from the blood mist.
Dugu Sheng was puzzled. One of his steps was equivalent to several of Dugu Sheng's running steps. He reached out and grabbed Dugu Sheng's shoulder, carrying him as they sped from house to house.
"Boy, say it again, what is the Blood Sea Demon Army?"
His voice, like the clanging of a sword, pulled Zhao Cheng out of his reverie.
Zhao Cheng's face was pale, sweat beaded on his forehead, and a trace of blood seemed to linger in his pupils. He said in a trembling voice:
"That, that is another master, the army under the command of the Styx Daoist. They are ferocious and each one is like a demon. Wherever they go, there will be a bone-chilling blood mist."
"Once they see blood, they are greatly stimulated and kill incessantly. Some even like to pile up enemy heads into mounds to terrify the enemy army."
In his previous life, he had faced the Blood Sea Demon Army once, and it was that encounter that made him lose the courage to confront them again.
Dugu Sheng's face was gloomy as he silently increased his speed, widening the distance between himself and the blood mist.
Of all the ghost immortals, he least wanted to confront Daoist Styx, not only because Daoist Styx held second authority, but also because the two had clashed before.
Who knows if the other party will get angry and use their privileges to overturn the table?
However, he still had one question.
"You said that Daoist Styx is the Master? How do you know this?" Dugu Sheng frowned slightly. According to his assumption, even if Daoist Styx were to die, he should be a ghost immortal.
Zhao Cheng was speechless for a moment, unsure how to respond.
Blood mist engulfed Tianyong City. A burly figure stood on the city wall, silently watching the two figures disappear into the distance.
He was eight feet tall and wore armor made of Death Prison Evil Iron, with almost no skin showing.
The red and black armor was covered with sharp barbs and inlaid with brass decorations. Two dead heads hung on his waist, the heads of the leaders of the Alligator Dragon Gang and the Black Snake Gang, respectively.
These were the spoils he barely considered worthy of his attention; apart from these two, the other gang members were too weak to be worthy of being tied around his waist.
The shouts of battle gradually subsided, replaced by the sound of footsteps.
The burly figure exhaled, and blood mist, accompanied by a heat wave, gushed out from the holes in his full-coverage helmet.
He turned around, holding his battle axe, and looked at his soldiers who had gathered below the city wall.
The soldiers, all dressed in red and black armor, stood in neat rows, each holding a halberd in one hand and a battle axe in the other. They were silent, and most of them had their own spoils of war hanging from their waists.
Their procession stretched all the way to the end of the street, where it was shrouded in blood mist.
Looking at the soldiers he had brought out, Du Yuanping was momentarily dazed.
He remembered that not long ago, they were just a group of ordinary refugees, but how did they end up like this?
Not only were they all tall and strong, showing no trace of their former status as refugees, but they had also become bloodthirsty and warlike, as evidenced by the spoils of war hanging from their waists.
Although, he wasn't really in a position to judge them.
Du Yuanping was silent for a moment before speaking: "Have all the enemies been killed?"
His voice was different from before; it was like a hammer striking an anvil, deep and resonant.
The lieutenant at the front of the column stepped forward and responded in the same somber voice: "They've all been killed. The remaining civilians are also required to stay indoors as we instructed. Wherever the blood mist covers, that is the territory of the Blood God."
"Very good. Next, impose martial law where necessary and implement control measures where appropriate."
The burly warrior leaped directly off the city wall, skillfully dissipating most of the force, leaving no mark on the street.
"Gather the common people together and have the religious teachers record their identities for easier management later... Oh, and remember to arrange for the preaching pamphlets. As for the rest, manage them as usual."
"Yes."
The soldiers dispersed in an orderly fashion, surging towards various parts of Tianyong City.
The blood mist that shrouded the city served as their eyes and ears; no one in the entire city could escape their surveillance.
Everything was proceeding smoothly. The scribes, dressed in blood-stained robes, compiled household registers for the city's commoners and distributed a booklet to each of them.
Besides the doctrines of the Blood God Cult, the book also contained some everyday tidbits of knowledge that they were unaware of.
For example, water should be boiled before drinking, and certain diseases can be relieved by eating fresh fruits and vegetables... Even if they may not have the conditions to do the above, it can still lay the foundation for the future.
As more members of the Blood God Cult settle in and drive the alchemical revolution, productivity will increase, and they will naturally pay more attention to this aspect.
Anyone who receives the booklet will also receive a few eggs, so there's no worry that they won't go and collect them.
Three days later, another group of Blood God Cult members moved into Tianyong City.
Escorted by a squad of soldiers in blood-red robes, eight alchemical machines spewing out high-temperature blood mist moved slowly into the city, emitting terrifying howls as they went.
The alchemists, wearing blood-stained red headscarves, either followed beside them or sat on them. Some of them had already removed their original limbs and replaced them with sturdy and reliable alchemy mechanical arms.
Holding spherical incense burners, they chanted obscure incantations, using the blood mist seeping from the burners to soothe the fleshy monsters within the alchemical machinery.
Attracted by the commotion, the common people gathered at the city gate, curiously watching. When they saw the grotesque machines that were a mixture of flesh and steel, they were terrified and ran away as if they had seen a ghost.
Patrolling soldiers passing by on the street were used to it, and some even went up and patted the white tubular structure that served as a chimney.
He was then sprayed in the face with blood mist.
"Commander Du."
When Xue Juzi, who commanded the alchemists, met Du Yuanping, he bowed and began to explain the functions of the alchemy machinery behind him.
"This batch of alchemical artifacts, produced in the first alchemical workshop of Dazeshan, is called the Crimson Spreader," and can be used for land reclamation, sowing, and logging.
"..." Bloodthirsty looked at the fanged maw in front of the Spreader, hesitated, and said, "If the front lines are critical, with a little modification, it can be transformed into a Flesh Reaper and deployed to the battlefield."
Du Yuanping's gaze shifted from under his helmet to the batch of alchemical machinery. As he examined them, he asked:
"Chairman Fan sent you here, is there any other important business?"
"Chairman Fan asked me to pass on a message to you," Xue Juzi said after a moment of recollection, "Once Tianyong City is stabilized, we can take the opportunity to attack Xunyin and Huaijing, and first capture these two cities controlled by the imperial court."
"In addition, no, a batch of new refining machinery will also be transferred to Tianyong City."
"I see."
Du Yuanping nodded; Fan Jin's thoughts coincided with his own.
Furthermore, if he remembered correctly, the two figures he saw three days ago should have fled to Xunyin.
One of them is suspected to be a grandmaster.
"It seems I should send a letter to the sect leader, asking him to send an avatar to provide cover. Du Yuanping is not one to be arrogant; on the contrary, he prefers to play it safe."
Since he began to believe in the Blood God, he has felt the Blood God's blessings every moment, and his cultivation has been improving at an abnormally rapid pace, now reaching the Divine Astral Realm.
Even so, he was not complacent, for he knew that there were still Grandmasters above the Divine Realm.
Even if many soldiers formed a battle formation with him, they still could not defeat a grandmaster, and at most they could only fight to a draw.
Therefore, it is very necessary to invite a Blood God Child.
"I need to prepare the skulls first; I reckon we'll need a skull mound soon," he thought to himself.
Perfect timing! Three days ago, they slaughtered the Alligator Dragon Gang and the Black Snake Gang; the heads they collected should be enough.
With his child in tow, Dugu Sheng traveled through mountains and rivers, finally arriving at Xunyin City.
This is a large city far more prosperous than Tianyong City. Even if Tianyong City had not been divided in two, it would still be far inferior to it.
Because it is located near the Xun River, with convenient waterways and thriving commerce, people from all walks of life gather here, creating a vibrant and prosperous scene.
Wherever there are people, there is a social dynamic, especially in a place like this where all sorts of people gather.
The imperial court's Zhenwu Division and Xichang Depot had planted countless spies in this area. Local government officials' constables roamed the streets, maintaining order while secretly monitoring all sorts of people from all walks of life.
Local powerful families, relying on their hired servants and guards, swaggered around the city, while disciples from various sects frequented shops and restaurants, chatting and gossiping without restraint.
"What a bustling metropolis, what a pity..."
As Zhao Cheng walked down the street, he looked around and suddenly sighed.
Dugu Sheng walked alongside him, glancing at him. "What's the pity? You're only ten or so, why do you always stop talking halfway through?"
He chuckled awkwardly and lowered his voice: "Unfortunately, this city will probably fall into the hands of the Blood God Cult soon."
"Oh? How do you know about this?" Dugu Sheng asked, somewhat curious.
From the very beginning, Dugu Sheng felt that he was hiding something from him.
Even without any investigation, he could roughly judge the situation of each faction based on the timeline, as if he had already experienced these things.
"Hey, it's just a simple guess."
Zhao Cheng glanced behind him, making sure someone had overheard his words, and then continued, "Although the Blood God Sect only recently captured Tianyong City, they have hardly lost a single soldier."
"Managing the entire Tianyong City is not difficult for the Blood God Cult. It won't be long before they've digested their gains and rise up again to continue their conquests."
"Then why Xunyin specifically, and not Huaijing or Lindong?" Dugu Sheng asked again.
"Think about it, compared to the other two cities, what does Xunyin have that it doesn't?"
As a Master who had once established a powerful force, Zhao Cheng, though the first to leave the stage, still possessed a certain level of strategic ability.
Although Dugu Sheng was not good at military affairs, he was a knowledgeable master and immediately thought of the answer.
Xunshui.
"Yes, it's the Xun River. The Xun River flows straight into the East China Sea. With it, the Blood God Sect can travel downstream along the waterway and conquer places like Shang'an and Luxian."
"Furthermore, the Blood God Cult could use this to develop a navy, threatening the coastal areas of the Great Qian and Golden Wolf."